By: Hans Themistode
Though Jaime Munguia has long occupied the number one ranking for the WBC in the middleweight division, the 25-year-old has opted to take his time.
Following a title run at 154 pounds, Munguia has gradually upped his level of competition. This past weekend, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, Munguia held a fight of the year contender against Gabriel Rosado. Although the action was nonstop, it was Munguia who emerged with the unanimous decision victory.
Now, no more than one week later, the highly ranked contender, is on the verge of discovering who his next foe will be.
As determined by the WBC sanctioning body at their recent convention, Munguia will be ordered to face the winner of the upcoming showdown between Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Carlos Adames. The two are scheduled to square off on December 5th, in Los Angeles California, as the chief support to Gervonta Davis vs. Isaac Cruz.
Originally, the sanctioning body ordered a final eliminator between Derevyanchenko and Munguia. However, with the pair already entangled in a pair of separate bouts, both Munguia and Derevyanchenko believed that it was in their best interest to wait.
With Munguia holding up his end of the bargain, the ball now falls squarely onto the court of Derevyanchenko. Though the 36-year-old has flirted with the idea of moving down in weight, the Ukrainian native is on the hunt to prove that his fourth crack at a world title will be his crowning achievement.
Following a closely contested loss against Daniel Jacobs in October of 2018 for the vacant IBF middleweight crown, Derevyanchenko bounced back with a unanimous decision victory over Jack Culcay.
While Derevyanchenko successfully worked his way back into the title picture, he has been sent back on consecutive occasions. In October of 2019, Derevyanchenko suffered a close but clear decision loss to Gennadiy Golovkin. Roughly one year later, the Brooklyn, New York resident would once again watch his world title dreams go up in flames. This time, at the hands of current belt holder, Jermall Charlo.
Despite his shortcomings, Derevyanchenko could be on his way to competing for a world title once more. Provided, of course, he takes care of business against both Adames and Munguia.
“The WBC ordered a final elimination between Jaime Munguia and Sergiy Derevyanchenko,” said Sulaiman. “Munguia had a commitment which he won. Sergiy has a fight as well December 5. We will revise the order for Munguia to face the winner of that fight.”